Gay Nigerian Asylum Seeker to be Deported From Iceland

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Gay Nigerian Asylum Seeker to be Deported From Iceland

A Nigerian man has had his appeal rejected and will likely be forced to leave Iceland. Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world for LGBT people.

The Icelandic Ministry of the Interior has endorsed, for a second time, the decision of the Directorate of Immigration to deny a request from a Nigerian asylum seeker for special consideration of his residency application. He was denied on the grounds of the Dublin II Regulation.

The man will be returned to Italy, where conditions for illegal migrants are considered among the worst in Europe. Under Dublin Regulation rules, illegal immigrants and unsuccessful asylum applicants are returned to the first European country they arrived in.

The man has been in Iceland for a year and a half and when his first application for special treatment was rejected, organizations including Samtökin ’78 (the LGBT organization) urged the Ministry of the Interior to re-examine the decision on grounds of the fact that homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria and executions commonplace.

His case was re-opened again, but the ministry came to the same decision. The man does not want his name to be released, RÚV reported.